But Blue Eyes are Prettier...

I held my daughter closely in my arms today and as I was telling her how pretty her eyes were, she replied that it was not. When I asked why she told me that it was because it was not blue like Elsa. She was referring to Elsa from Frozen. That took me aback and made me think back to the reasons why she may think so.

Blame it on Frozen?

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Off the bat, I suppose it is understandable to blame frozen for these problems. After all, they do portray certain traits as "pretty". This includes blue eyes and blonde hair. But blaming frozen seems a bit...simple-minded? I find Frozen to be alright and I think there is a deeper reason behind such thoughts.

Perhaps, the reason here is linked closely to how our children these days are being influenced by so many messages on social media and in movies. I believe that there are other ways to help protect the next generation or my girls.

Protect them from what exactly? Maybe protecting, in this case, is a bit too strong a word, but maybe the word here is giving them a healthy self-image?

What I did...

As all this was going on, I told my daughter that blue eyes does not make her pretty. It was because her eyes, I said, resembled her mom's and that it sparkled like the stars in the sky. She was happy and quickly switched the topic to something else.

I suppose the importance here is to constantly teach her the meaning of what being beautiful is. That it was not merely about genetics or how they looked, it was about other elements as well, wisdom, character and many more.

This I know is going to a be a very very long journey. But it's safe to say that if I don't start early, I can't fathom what would happen when she becomes a teen.

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Conclusion

We live in a world where there are just so many differing points of view and narratives. I think as parents, we have to be constantly vigilant and must frequently speak to them on different topics whenever such opportunities arise.